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The clock is ticking down to a possible federal government shutdown at the end of this week. And, Michigan lawmakers are playing pivotal roles in the budget debate.

Michigan congressmen Justin Amash and Tim Walberg are among a group of 13 House Republicans that have threatened to break with the GOP leadership on the budget negotiations. They’ve pushed budget amendments to slash$61 billion in spending.

Michigan Democratic Senator Carl Levin says far right Republicans in the House are preventing the two sides from reaching a budget deal.

“Right now the leadership of the House…Mr. Boehner…is a kind of a captive of the far right of the House.”

Levin complains that lawmakers with ties to the Tea Party don’t care if the federal government shuts down, since they believe government is the problem to begin with.

"And now the hand wringing begins" said a nervous supporter at the Mark Schauer victory party.

The incumbent Democratic congressman's party on the 16th floor of the McCamly Hotel is filling up. People here are glancing more and more frequently at the TV monitors and lap top screens. The race between Schauer and former congressman, turned challenger Republican Tim Walberg is expected to be close. Very Close.

Victory parties are getting underway for candidates in Michigan's 7th congressional district. On the 16th floor of the McCamly Hotel in Battle Creek, a spokesman for incumbent Democrat Mark Schauer says they are cautiously optimistic. Republican challenger Tim Walberg's party is in downtown Jackson. Two years, the race was not decided until well after midnight.

Voters in the 7th congressional district will have two familiar choices on the ballot in November. They faced each other before. This time the result may be different.

When you are congressman running for re-election you walk in a lot of parades. Democrat Mark Schauer spent a recent September day walking in Charlotte’s Frontier Days parade. The crowd lining the parade route was polite, but several people like Liz Goble were not happy to see Mark Schauer.

"I definitely wasn’t happy when he was voted in. I will be happy to see him go," says Goble.

The Tea Party Express is scheduled to roll into Michigan this week, just days before next month’s pivotal mid-term election.

The conservative voters group has been holding rallies across the United States for the past week.

The Tea Party Express has two stops planned in Michigan this Friday, one for a rally in Jackson and the second in Troy. Those rallies will both take place in the hearts of two heavily contested congressional races.